6 Alarm Clock Apps for OS X

I’m sure many of you have been let down by your trusty alarm clock at one time or another – don’t you wish there was a better way? Fortunately, there is! It’s easy to leverage the power of your Mac to help you be more punctual and productive.

Depending upon your budget and requirements, there are plenty of applications which function as feature-rich and good looking alarm clocks. All of the following programs have free trials, so you can try them out to see what features you need in your perfect alarm clock application.

Awaken is the whole package, great interface, fully featured, and free updates for life. The alarm can be set to wake you, either with music from your iTunes library or one of the build in sounds. Awaken has the ability to wake your Mac from sleep. Fullscreen mode allows you to view your alarm, even from across the room. Awaken also comes with an egg timer, great for a quick nap or help around the kitchen.

While most other applications are only available in English, Aurora is available in English, German, French, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Russian and Chinese. Aurora also has built in EyeTV support, you can wake up to your favorite television program. Also, if you decide you do not want to wake up you can snooze your alarm using the Apple remote.

Alarm Clock Pro, while the most expensive, has the most features. In addition to the regular features, Alarm Clock offers some very unique ones such as the ability to take a screenshot, open a website, compose an email, open an application, and 27 more options with the ability to combo one or more of them together. Alarm Clock Pro proves alarms are good for more than just waking you up.

iRooster is the most gentle of all the alarm clock applications, it has a volume fade-in system, which allows you to wake up slowly and peacefully. iRooster has Lullaby mode, where you can fall gently asleep while listening to your favorite music and an innovative snooze system which can be controlled via the Apple remote.

Alarm Clock 2 has many features in common with the other alarm clock applications such as a volume fade-in alarm, the ability to wake your Mac from sleep, built in Apple remote support, and the ability to wake up to songs from your iTunes library, but for free. Alarm Clock 2 is the perfect solution for someone who does not need a bunch of added features.

Red Alarm Clock is the perfect solution if you crave simplicity, it is easy to set up and install. Red Alarm Clock is a dashboard widget that offers a single alarm that wakes you up with tunes from your iTunes library.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are numerous alarm clock applications available for your Mac. The applications range from a super simple dashboard widget to a fully featured desktop application. You just need to determine what features are most beneficial to you.

If any of you use a different application, please do let us know so we can give it a try!

iRooster is my favorite!. and Alarm Clock Pro has been around for ages!

http://www.mellowbusiness.com David Turnbull

Aurora worked well for me in the past but I could never stomach spending money on a computer-based alarm clock. Red Alarm Clock would probably be the best option for me. Then again, I prefer to just not need or use an alarm clock. :-)

For the last 7 years I have always used iClock and found it was exactly what i needed since it is so much better then the Apple menubar clock. Lots of really useful features which don’t require work on my part.http://www.scriptsoftware.com/iclock

I’m using Alarm Clock 2 for the first time tomorrow. I’m waking up to “My Favorite Things” by Outkast. I think this is a cool idea, but I would only use it when I need to leave my computer on all night to download something/rip a DVD/something else time-consuming. Which is like once a month. I know I can set my computer to turn on at a certain time, but then I would have to set it so it automatically logs in… Anyway, I’m just pointing out that while this is cool, unless you’re someone who leaves their computer on 24/7, this won’t be too useful.

AlanW

@Anon – Do you really need to do a full shut down? Why not just let it go to sleep/standby?

Alarm Clock 2 will bring your mac out of sleep, and log in for you. Check out the screenshots on their site. Better yet, try it for yourself (if you’re inclined).

I bring this up, because I’ve found I rarely do a shut down on my mac – just let it sleep/standby. I use it pretty much everyday, so no need to do a full power down. In the rare chance I am NOT going to use it for at least 2+ days I will shut it down….and thats if it’s going to be unplugged. Otherwise I let it sleep and eventually it hibernates or powers down on its own (depending on set power scheme).

(Mac’s sleep is so efficient I actually can’t remember the last time I had to shut down!)

but

but..but… I don’t use iTunes

Marc

What do you use?

Marc

What player do you use?

AlanW

I use Vox for a quick play of a media file… usually audio. It is set as the default for all my mp3’s. It launches quickly and plays the file. Has all the goodies I am used to with WinAmp (on my PCs). VLC for Mac will also work here. It was a tossup for me. I went with the smaller process size.

iTunes has just become too bloated and cumbersome for a quick file play. Have you seen how much the process consumes now (I’m on 10).

I use Miro to download, manage and even play my podcasts. Its also great as it downloads youtube content and allows me to convert my media files from ad to pretty much any format and has all the codecs I need built-in.

Finally I use iTunes to manage my music library and play music when its more than just a quick wav file or checking out a song quickly (thats what Vox is good for IMO). On weekends when I’m home and listening to my music and my albums, its finally iTunes’ turn.

Sorry for the long winded reply here, but since you asked, I figured I’d provide my $0.02 because I’ve wrestled with finding an iTunes replacement for some time (mainly due to how bloated its become). But I also think its still best at managing my music library… so this has become the compromise…my new “system”.

By the way, Miro and Vox are freebies…which doesn’t hurt.

Alv

Thanks for this nice list, I went for Alarm Clock too because Aurora is just too expensive for a “Virtual Alarm Clock” when you can find even iHomes going on ebay for that money, Probably this kinds of apps will get cheaper with the upcoming Mac App store anyway.
I used another App before that needed to have a window opened which was annoying, this overhead thingy is way better and similar to aurora or awaken

jason

if i shut down my mac pro
will the red alarm clock wake me up in the morning?

http://appenthusiast.blogspot.com Eric Pramono

I wrote a 300-word review on Finger Alarm for Mac OS X. I think the UI is very beautiful and it has different skins and colors that you can choose according to your preference. And, that the most intuitive feature of the application is you can easily click and drag the hour/minute-mark clockwise or counter-clockwise to set the alarm. It’s not just easy but it’s also fun.

MultiSnooze is the new app that allows you, the user, to press the snooze button multiple times when you first get up and then receive that number of snooze sessions in a row without interruption. The first thing you do when your alarm goes off is look at the clock and determine how many times you can press the snooze button. Why hit it once, go to sleep, wait for it to go off again and then repeat the same cycle? You don’t have to. Now take all your snoozes right up front with MultiSnooze. Coming soon to the app store. multisnooze.com

Red Alarm Clock is cool but how do you get that stupid anime face off the bottom of it??????

Scott

Also check out Big Event Reminder. You will never miss a meeting again with this app. Alarms can have sounds, images, or URL. You can use it to motivate yourself to do something or important events. Put your mac to sleep or wake it. Also comes with timer.

Is there a great analog clock app to replace the one that OSX originally came with? I’m using simple clock and while it’s got some great options (though an alarm isn’t one of them), I miss the polished 3-D look of the Apple version.

monalisa

i downloaded red alarm clock – i don’t like it, how do i delete it from Mac os X – please help